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My Short-lived Career as a Fashion Model

So last spring 2007, when I was on concert tour in Japan for seven weeks, I not only was the subject of a TV documentary on Asahi Broadcasting, but did some magazine interviews. Here I am on page 11 of the August 2007 issue of Switch Magazine, which is a hip arts and culture color glossy, in my Living on the Earth dress and scarf (created by Tokyo fashion designer Aya Noguchi of Balcony and Bed), and playing my Traveler Guitar. I was photographed in the living room of Aya’s house, on a hill overlooking the sea a few miles from Tokyo.

A photo taken with my camera at this, my one and only modeling session of my entire life (at age 58!) I swear I do not eat, sleep and shower with that black hat on, but it seems to appear in every one of the magazine photos. It’s one of those flexible recycled paper and plastic hats that fold up in a suitcase and resume their shape afterwards.

Here’s the cover of Switch Magazine for that month.

Ecocolo Magazine appeals to environmentally conscious young women. Here’s the cover of the September 2007 issue.

Ecocolo also ran a feature article on the Living on the Earth clothing line, with a photo taken during my concert at the Natural High Festival in May 2007, while I was being filmed for the TV documentary.

Also in the September 2007 issue of Ecocolo: an interview with me by Keibo Tsuji Oiwa, an anthropologist, teacher, author and translator who teaches International Studies at Meiji Gakuin University in Yokohama. I read with fascination The Other Japan, a book on Japanese environmentalism, civil rights and national identity, that he co-authored with David Suzuki.

Keibo, on the day he interviewed me, with his friends Yoshiko, an artist married to a musician (she gave me a copy of his CD), and Michio, who assisted Keibo and photographed me for the interview.